Lin Shuangwen Rebellion

One of the three most significant uprisings of Qing dynasty era Taiwan, initiated when officials moved against the Tiandihui (天地會), a secret society, and its leader Lin Shuangwen (林爽文). Lin gathered a force at Dalijie (大里杙), in what is now Dali, taking Changhua within two days; by February his followers held much of the previously Qing-administered territories of the island apart from Taiwan Prefecture, Zhuluo (諸羅), and the critical port of Lukang. Lin’s forces were primarily Zhangzhou in origin, with Quanzhou and Hakka militias forming in response, which the Qing worked to their advantage before landing reinforcements in December 1787 and capturing Lin near Miaoli the following February. The Qianlong Emperor renamed Zhuluo as Jiayi (嘉義) for the loyalty of its defenders and granted honorific plaques to the communities that had sided with the court, originating the veneration of the yimin (義民) war dead still observed at Xinpu Baozhong Temple and Beigang Yimin Temple.